Just click here to read the Encyclical by Pope Francis online or download a PDF to your computer. Click here for the Study Guide by Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ.

Another excellent resource is the series of YouTube videos by Father Daniel Horan found here.
Currently there are 7 short videos in the series -watch for more. Father Horan's blog is called "dating God"

The "new" Ecumenical Social Justice Group of Cook County by Steve Deschene

On November 6, 2014 about 20 people met in the fellowship hall at St. John's Catholic church to talk about forming a group to work on Social Justice issues. This meeting, which was open to anyone in the community, was organized by a group studying social justice at St. John's and by the Outreach committee at the Congregational church which also tries to bring social justice issues before the community for discussion and action.

This first meeting included a far ranging discussion of what the group's role in the community could be and what social justice issues needed to be addressed. It was decided to meet again and to bring some educational material about the Social Justice movement to the group to help define what we should be about. The Dorothy Day social justice movement more commonly known as the Catholic workers movement was presented as well as some other historical information about past social justice organizations and we focused on the key principals that are identified with any Social Justice work - human rights, caring for the poor and vulnerable, the right to participate in governance and the constructive role of government, dignity and fair treatment for workers, stewardship of the earth, the solidarity of the global human family and the promotion of peace.

We also reviewed a sample social justice action plan. It has four steps: 1) experience and see the reality of injustice, 2) look at the "why" beneath the surface of what you see and see if the injustice has become part of an accepted structure or institution, 3) look at the issue through the lens of our shared religious teachings and 4) determine an action that addresses the root causes of the injustice - this could be through charity, community organizing, education, economic development or many other strategies.

Once the group educated itself in these principals and action plan we tried to identify the various social justice issues in our own Cook County. The brainstorming session came up with an imposing list including: foster care for children, sex trafficking and preying on teenage girls, affordable housing, domestic violence, drug, gambling and alcohol abuse/addiction, living wage, LGBT and gender equality, assisted living for seniors, mentoring for young people, among others. We also came up with a list of resources to draw on to tackle some of these issues. They included: the YMCA, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts/4-H, Law Enforcement, Social Services, AEOA, Cook County Schools, area Churches, the Violence Prevention Center, the ACA and Art Colony, North House Folk School, Realtors, the Blandin Corporation leadership development team, local businesses, and retired professionals living here.

After discussing for several sessions what another group could add to the many other local non-profit groups tackling these issues we hit upon one thing that we felt was often needed when addressing a social justice issue and that is: coordination among all the parties involved in the issue. Drawing on the experience of one of our group members we studied a model for bringing all parties together for a session over a meal to hear each others' concerns and attempts to cope with an issue and to share ideas, strategies and resources. We felt that we could be that facilitating group and we set out to tackle a local issue with social justice aspects to try out our model plan. We felt only by choosing something and trying to bring the affected parties together could we see if our idea would work and benefit the community.

So we picked an issue that has been in the public conversation in Cook County for many years: the influx of International Workers to fill seasonal jobs in the tourist oriented businesses in Cook County. To get some background on this issue we invited a number of the parties involved in this phenomenon to our discussion: an employer, a person involved in a comprehensive survey about the living and working conditions of the workers, and former International workers who now live here, having married local residents. We heard a lot of good information about how these workers arrange to come here, how they are paid, where they live and what activities are available to them to improve their English and knowledge of American culture.

Our next step was to try our collaboration strategy by inviting employers of International workers to a luncheon to share their stories and discuss how the community could help make the stay of these workers a positive experience for themselves and the community. With the letter of invitation to the luncheon we also sent out a list of services and amenities available to the workers for their reference. We included inexpensive places to shop such as the thrift Shop and Odds & Endz, the WOW bike loan program, where to get free wireless internet, the monthly dinner hosted by the Evangelical Free church and created a list of area families willing to host a worker or two for a meal or outing with one contact point for referrals.

Due to the busy summertime schedules of our local businesses we only had a couple of employers attend but we still obtained a wealth of information from that discussion. We learned that the most needed things are housing sources, transportation to local events, a place to call for help with disputes or to get questions answered when confused, and family contacts for mentoring and experiences in the local area. We also have heard about discrepancies in pay between local residents and these workers and that they are all savvy in social media and prefer to get their information in that manner.

So we have decided to follow up on several of these concerns. We are looking to create a Facebook page for obtaining information on many services and resources in the area and are looking to organize a troubleshooting team to help with problems that arise between the workers and employers or others in our county. We are also working with the Joint Religious Legislative Committee of Minnesota to advocate in the state legislature on the issues of affordable housing and living wages. These workers are not subject to the new higher minimum wage law passed last year in Minnesota and having a central referral center for housing would be a great boon to employers who usually take it on themselves to find housing for their employers - sometimes in their own family homes.

We look forward to working further on this issue to bring better working conditions to these guests of our community and it was a good way to get our feet wet in the Social Justice movement of our faith traditions. Anyone who is interested in helping in these efforts would be welcome. Contact Steve Deschene at [email protected] or Peter Mueller at [email protected] for our next meeting date.